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Infection prevention and control

Our job is to stop service users and patients getting infections as a result of their care. We make sure that when people do pick up these infections, we learn about why it happened and use training and education to stop it from happening again.

We provide:

Training and education - we make sure staff are up to date with safe working practices, know their responsibilities towards infection prevention and control and how it affects their patients or service users

Audit - we monitor aspects of patient care and environmental standards throughout the Trust and areas used by Trust staff

Advice - we are available to help with infection prevention and control issues

Information - we make sure that the Trust’s infection control policies are in line with national guidance and best practice. We make information on common infections available for staff patients and visitors of the Trust

Outbreak management - if an outbreak occurs the team provides daily advice to manage the situation

Incident reporting - we analyse and review why incidents happen. We use what we learn to support training, update our policies and ensure safer practices

Campaigns - the team provide support with local and national campaigns such as sepsis awareness, flu, hand hygiene, and bare below the elbows

Hand hygiene

Washing hands is the most important way to prevent infection.

Visitors as well as staff play a key role in supporting our Trust inpatient areas to remain infection free by making sure their hands have been washed with soap and water. Alcohol hand gel is also available in many areas. Visitors should clean their hands on arrival and before leaving inpatient areas.

If you're worried that a member of staff may have forgotten to clean their hands, it's OK to remind them.

Sepsis

Sepsis is a life threatening condition which happens when the body’s response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs. It can lead to death if it is not recognised and treated quickly. Any infection can cause sepsis.

Every year in the UK there are 150,000 cases of sepsis, resulting in a staggering 44,000 deaths.

We want to encourage everyone, every time they come across someone with any type of infection and they appear unwell to think, could it be sepsis? Fast action saves lives.

The symptoms in adults spell out the word 'SEPSIS': Slurred speech or confusion, Extreme shivering or muscle pain, Passing no urine in a day, Severe breathlessness, "I feel like I might die", Skin mottled or discoloured.

The symptoms in babies and children are: breathing very fast, having a 'fit' or convulsion, looking mottled bluish or pale. a rash that does not fade when you press it, being very lethargic or difficult to wake, feeling abnormally cold to touch.

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